A student-led movement began after the Novi Sad rail station disaster in November 2024, which killed 16 people. The disaster sparked anticorruption protests demanding a transparent investigation and led then-Prime Minister Milos Vucevic to resign. Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic later pushed back against protesters, while students expanded the demonstrations into a campaign for early elections. Tens of thousands of people rallied in Belgrade, with students leading and many arriving from other towns. Serbia’s state railway company cancelled trains to and from Belgrade to limit attendance. Vucic’s supporters gathered near the presidency in a camp guarded by riot police, while students said their rally would remain peaceful.
"Tens of thousands of people, led by university students, have rallied in the Serbian capital to protest against the government and call for early elections. The Novi Sad rail station disaster in November 2024, which killed 16 people, sparked anticorruption protests, calling for a transparent investigation, forcing then-Prime Minister Milos Vucevic to resign. Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic later pushed back hard against the protesters. With students leading the anticorruption movement, the demonstrations have snowballed into a campaign to push Vucic to call early elections."
"Protesters streamed into a central square in the capital, Belgrade, from several directions, many carrying banners and wearing T-shirts inscribed with the Students win motto of the youth movement. Columns of cars drove into Belgrade from other Serbian towns earlier in the day. Protester Maja Milas Markovic said students managed to gather us here with their youth and wonderful energy; I really believe that we have [the] right to live normally. Serbia's state railway company cancelled all trains to and from Belgrade on Saturday, in a bid to stop at least some of the people from coming from other parts of the Balkan country."
"Vucic said this week that the ballot could be held between September and November this year. Vucic's loyalists, meanwhile, gathered in a park camp outside the Serbian presidency building that he set up before another big antigovernment rally last March as a human shield against protesters. Folk music blared from a fenced area surrounded by riot police in full gear. Students have said their rally will be peaceful. But there are concerns of viol"
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